Wanted: 1 M Pinoys to pray the rosary for 200 days

MANILA, Philippines - The Family Rosary Crusade (FRC) is hoping to find one million Filipinos who are willing to pray one million rosaries for 200 days for a common agenda – world peace.

The CBCPNews, the official news service provider of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said the rosary campaign is dubbed “A million roses for the World: Filipinos at Prayer: Peace for All Nations.”

The campaign aims to rally Filipinos here and abroad to offer one rosary each day for a particular country in the world in 200 days.

The nationwide activity kicks off on Oct. 7, the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, and ends on May 31, 2012, the Feast of Our Lady of All Nations. The event will be launched officially on Oct. 8 at the University of Sto. Tomas grounds.

CBCP president Tandag Bishop Nereo Odchimar lauded the FRC campaign, saying that with one million peace-loving Filipinos praying together, “we can claim peace for the world from the hands of the good Lord and His mother.”

He said, “The tool may be simple but this simplicity will open for us the doors to lasting peace for the world and lead us to the path for the healing of our nation.”

The bishop called on all parishes, Basic Ecclesial Communities, schools and overseas Filipinos to join in the rosary campaign.

“I see this as a potent tool for catechesis on prayer, on the need for social engagement among Catholics and on the real meaning of peace as taught by the Lord in the gospels,” he said.

The Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan will participate actively in the rosary campaign, said Archbishop Socrates Villegas, who heads the CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Catechesis and Catholic Education (ECCCE).

“This will be a good occasion to animate our youth to love this beautiful prayer of the Church. The rosary is the life of our Blessed Lord from the eyes of His Blessed Virgin Mother. This campaign aims to teach our youth that prayer can change the world and people who pray can change the destinies of peoples. There can be no world peace without prayer,” Villegas said.

He also encouraged the faithful to join a similar rosary campaign for schools nationwide called “One Point One on Eleven Eleven” wherein Catholic schools, colleges and universities pray simultaneously one million one hundred rosaries at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11.

A prayer of commitment for the rosary campaign will be prayed in all Masses within the archdiocese beginning tomorrow until Sept. 30. – With Eva Visperas